


Getting used to Pain

by Carpe56



Category: Avatar the Last Airbender - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Gen, Worldbuilding, first time fic, how do you tag?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23709022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carpe56/pseuds/Carpe56
Summary: She was used to the burning agony that bending brought her. She was used to getting in to fights with her family. But one day when a fight goes to far and Rue runs away her world is tipped on its head. Will she be able to save herself in time?
Relationships: Katara/Zuko, OC/OC
Kudos: 1





	Getting used to Pain

Getting Used to Pain   
She watched as her mother’s leg slid back and her hand rose. As her sister copied the move with lazy eyes and trouble form. She watched as her mother’s burrows furrowed and her eye’s narrowed. It was only half way through their daily training time and Maggie was already quitting. 

“You are not even trying anymore! You realize how hard I work, then I have to come here and help you, only for you to give up!” Maggie just rolled her silvery-grey eyes, having heard this speech almost every day this month. Rue had heard this speech being given just as many times, but that still did not stop the sizzling jealousy right underneath her skin. Rue would give up just about everything to have what her two sisters did. The gift of bending. To be blessed by the Tai and La. She just wasn’t. Well that wasn’t entirely accurate, she wasn’t like Uncle Sokka who could not even hear the alluring sounds of the ocean, or the cracking whip of the fires. She wasn’t quite like her siblings either, who threw around there's like it was a cheap play thing. If anything, her bending was a curse from the spirit world. It hurt her like a million needles flying through her veins, chopping her up from the inside out. Her bending wasn’t strong either, it showed itself in small ways. Like her tea being heated up when it got cold, or water staying out of her eyes in the shower. Not like Mag’s who could make a huge wall of water, or like Luka who could make a tornado with a flick of her thin wrist. They were blessed. They were lucky. 

Most importantly they had Dad wrapped around their little fingers. “Dad” -Aang the Avatar- wasn’t...fatherly to Rue. Sometimes he would be talking about going on a family trip and forgot about inviting her, making her stay home. When he did try to do things with her, it was always about, “Opening her chi to encourage her bending!” She had to grind her teeth every time she thought about it, her fist clenching at her side. He must have sensed her threats because he started to avoid her after that. That was no problem to Rue. She hadn’t told her parents about her bending the little things. She had two main reasons why. 1) She wasn’t good enough to show them yet, and 2) she didn’t need their approval (Their disappointment when they found out about the curse). Her thoughts were sliced through when Aang’s voice rang through the hills.

“YES! You're doing it, that took me years to do, and you're doing it after a week! I knew you could.” Luka’s laugh was light but exhausted. She was the middle child and was quieter than both Rue and Maggie. “Now get into a low squat and twist your hips to the right. That way the air will move with you.” Rue could almost hear the smile in his voice, with heavy shoulders she turned in for the night. 

She woke up with her heart thumping in her ears, her fingers tingling and arm dead asleep. At least something was sleeping. With a shake of her black silk hair she got out of bed. At times like these Rue remembered that she was related to her mom, when her hair was a literal birds nest. Not that she cared. With a glance out the window she found that it was that weird time where some people still called it night, and others called it the morning. Perfect, and with a smile on her face she raced outside. She ran as far as her feet would let her, she ran until her lungs howled and thrashed, until she was far enough to practice. Copying the form that her mom had shown Maggie the other day, she breathed in deep and with a thrust of her hands carried out the move. Her body screamed at her to stop, not to do this, please make it stop, make it stop. She heard those cries far too many times to listen to them now. Nothing moved. With a frustrated huff of once again failing, she ran the move over, and over, and over again, till finally the smallest bit of dew rose from the grass. Victory. With that thought her body no longer let her control it and hit the ground with a wet splat. The sky was beautiful, showing that only a couple of hours had passed since she had gotten up. With a heavy heave she lifted herself off of the ground and started to the woods. The woods were thick and luxurious, with roots so big that people could live under them. Rue found a tree that looked strong enough and had enough vines on it, then she placed her hands on it and started to move upwards till she reached the very top. This was something that she could do well, climbing. She grabbed one of the vines and was soaring through the air with the performance level of an acrobat. A laugh tore through her throat as she let go and latched onto another. 

Rue did this for a while before she got to the hut in the middle of the woods. Her feet graced the ground with the lightest of sounds of someone who had done this a million and one times before, and with a rapt of her knuckles she knocked on the door. A woman with eyes of the rising sun and hair as grey as soot opened it. “Rue, dear, you came here a little late, I almost thought you were skipping the lessons.”

“I would never miss out on this.” Ms. Blaze taught history, not like the one in school, but the uncut version. The one most people did not want to hear, the one that did not have a nation that they were loyal too. She didn’t sugar coat what the Fire Nation did, nor did she blame all of the Fire Nation for it. She talked about why the Di Lee were in the Earth Kingdom and how one of the older Avatars started it. How the Water Tribe’s did not send help when they were asked, and when one of the tribes finally did it wasn’t enough. How the world was not all black and white. “What are we going over today?”  
A new spark lit in the older woman’s eyes. “I’m glad you asked, child. Today we are going to go over the Fire Lord Zuko’s rein and his rise to power.. He was banished, laughed at, mocked, and spat on because his father had given him an impossible task to complete, and once he did he would be allowed to come back home. Find the Avatar, but the thing is, dear, is that he did. He found the Avatar after three years of searching. People did not find that nearly as funny,” and on she went, spinning a story that was full of tragedy and hopefulness for a better life. Of wanting to go home. “If you only take one thing from this, take this. Fire Lord Zuko is what brought these war locked lands together, he is the best Fire Lord that has ever been, but some people do not see it that way. Some people see all the good he has brought and only see that they are no longer profiting from the war. If there is one thing that drives people to do insane things, child, it’s money. Don’t you ever forget that,” with that last line Rue was shuffled out of the house. Then she looked at what time it was and cursed, she needed to get home before her mother murdered her with a sharp water whip. With the fierceness of a fire mixed with hairspray she ran with all her might through the woods, this time not messing around swinging from the vines. 

She was late. Not that this was a new development but it meant that her father was up. It meant that she had to sit through a family breakfast, which might as well have been sentencing someone to turtore. With a deep breath in she opened the door to see the face of her Uncle.   
“RUE! Look at how tall you have grown! How are you? Good? Yeah I’m great. I was in the Fire Nation helping with some negotiations between them and the tribes…” Rue had blocked him out at this point. While he was on her top three favorite people list he could be a little overbearing especially when Maggie was looking like a cat who just caught a sneaky mouse. Aa-Dad was sitting right beside with a sad look on his face, or maybe not sad but disappointed. 

“Sokka.” That was all mom had to say before Uncle deflated like a helium balloon.

“Sorry kid, I can’t get you out of this one.” That was why he was her favorite, because it felt like even if she messed up big time he would still love and look at her the same. 

“Thanks for trying.” With that Uncle Sokka turned around and walked out of the room, grabbing Luka and Maggie on the way out. Silence followed not far behind, a staring match between Mother, Father and Daughter ensued. Aang broke first. 

“You can’t keep doing this Rue, you can’t keep running out in the middle of the night! You have no way to protect yours-” There was no way she was going to let that statement fly. She flew off her handle. 

“How dare you think you can say that! I do know how to fight Sokka taught me, no thanks to you. You don’t even care, do you? Who brought it to your attention that I was gone, huh?” The following silence was answer enough. 

“Look young lady, I know that you find this hard to believe, but me and Aang care about you. We thought someone might have hurt you. We are your parents, it is our JOB to be worried, and mad at you when you do something like this. How many times have we told you that sneaking away is not-” 

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” All of her anger management skills disintegrated with every word that fell out of her parents mouths. “just...LET ME DO SOMETHING BY MYSELF FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE.” 

“WHAT DO YOU WANT US TO DO? You have no way...you CAN’T bend. When is that going to get through your head? How are we supposed to trust that you can do things by yourself when you don’t listen to us when you need to?” Katara’s voice rang throughout the house. 

“Guys...maybe...just let it go, Katara, she is not going to follow our rules.” Aang’s voice cut through her heart. Tears welled up in her eyes, all of her stomach muscles were cramping from keeping her yells locked inside. She had no right to feel that way, she wanted them to drop it, but it felt like he had given up on her so easily. Like this is what he expected from the very beginning. Katara just nodded her head. 

No, no, they did not get to have the final say, they did not get to have the final notes of this tune. With her limbs shaking with rage she turned around and ran right back to the place that got her in trouble in the first place. 

“RUE!” Katara’s voice followed her out. She didn’t stop and let her talk, she didn’t listen. They were right about that part. They were most likely right about everything (No, a tiny voice told her, you can bend.). She gave one final kick before she hit the ground. Katara gains on her faster than an ostrich-horse trying to catch it’s favorite meal.

Once she finally got to Rue, she didn’t stand and llord over her like Rue thought she would, but sat down. She took her hands and ran them through her hair, and started to speak in a low calm voice. It took Rue back to a time when everyone thought her bending was just late. When they would sit out by the water and jump in it, or mediate to get over her unusual outbursts. With a heavy heart Rue started to talk, “I don’t understand. I really don’t. Why...Why does he treat me like that? Why does he treat me differently than my sister’s? What…” Her voice trailed off.

“He does love you, baby. He just...doesn’t always think things through.” A sigh escaped Katara’s lips as she pulled Rue into her arms. Her eyes held a war, an internal conflict that she didn’t know which side to choose. She opened her mouth again, only to close it. 

“He doesn’t care! He doesn’t love me. He never can. I’m not a bender, I am not him! I’m not like Luka who is the only other person in the world who is an airbender, nor am I Maggie who is a talented water bender. DOESN’T HE GET IT? HE SHOULD....he should understand that. But he doesn’t. I’m not worth his time. He’s not my father, if he has to be someone, he is an unknown sperm donor.” The tears escaped the prison that was keeping them held inside. Rage was her first emotion and frustration was a close second, but both of them had betrayed her and left her with sadness. “I don’t even look like him. I don’t act like him. He can’t stand the sight of me.” Which didn’t bother her at all, no, totally not. “SOMETIMES I WISH HE WASN’T MY FATHER.” 

“WELL WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY? SORRY HE IS? Your real father can’t know you exist! He can’t be tied down to me or to you! Do you REALLY want to know the truth? Because it isn’t a pretty picture.” Rue’s jaw was literally on the floor when Katara realized what she just let slip. “Oh, Tai and La.” was then said in the faintest of whispers. “Well, now you know. That is why...I mean...that is why he acts the way he does...he knows that you are not his. It’s not your bending, or lack thereof, it’s the fact that that was the thing that you guys were going to have in common. A thing that you could share if not bloodline. But you can’t bend, and every day he is reminded that you are not his. That…” It had to be some kind of bad joke, it didn’t make sense for that to be the case because...because...that meant her whole life had been based on a lie. Well, that was a little dramatic, but it meant that she was lied to. For years. However, there were more important things to think about right now, like the questions that still needed to be asked.

“If he isn’t my father then who is? The milk man who lives on gingerbread lane?” Rue's voice came out more bitter than she meant it too. Not that she was going to apologize for saying her thoughts. 

Katara’s lips curled into a smile, but not the one that Rue was used too. This one was frosty and mean, one that did not belong on her face. “You would not believe me if I told you that.” The smile shifted just a little. The frozen edges gained a wishful look to them, a look of loss and love. One that was never given to her fathe-Aang. 

“Was he at least hot?” Katara made a choking sound, her cheeks turning a bright red. 

“Well… He was Fire Nation, so it was kind of in his blood to be.” The tone of voice that her mother used confused Rue for a moment. Just a single one. 

“You miss him, don’t you?” This got Katara to be choking again. The next thing Rue knew, her mom had her pinned to the ground and tickling her immensely. They rolled around in the dirt for a long time before they headed back to the house. Racing this time.

Once they had gotten home, everyone sat at the table to eat the cold food (Well her’s wasn’t that cold, pain was shooting through her though). “Luka, today we are going to be working on lifting objects that are in front of you with bending, okay? It might seem basic, but it’s hard to use just enough air to not blow the things away, but not too much and not be able to make it bauge.” Aang eyes were lighting up with the idea, bouncing in his chair ready to go. Luka looked just as excited. Everyone knew who his favorite was. 

Maggie wasn’t going to let her sister get all the light though, “MOM! Oh my gosh, maybe we can show Uncle Sokka that new move we have been working on. Or have Luka and I fight and see who wins? You know for training purposes?” Maggie was the youngest of the bunch, she was catching up to Luka in strength though, if Rue was a betting girl she would say Maggie would win in about a year's time. 

“Sorry girls, but Uncle Sokka was going to work with Rue on something today, maybe next time?” That peaked her interest, that meant sword work. Rue loved working with swords, they just felt right at home in her hands, like she could do and be anything she wanted when she was fighting with swords. 

With that being said, everyone ate quickly to get on with the day. Rue did the dishes as fast as she could without breaking anything and headed outside. The sun in the middle of the sky now. She spotted Sokka in the outfield, far enough away from the training grounds that her family couldn’t spy on them but close enough for snack stealing, in Sokka’s expert words. 

“Hey kid, are you ready for the Sokka Sword Special? I brought these babies in Bi Singse. Want to test them out?” Without waiting for an answer he tossed her one and came sprinting at her. She was used to this, the fast paced that he set, sometimes it felt like he was the only one who could take her seriously. Maybe it was because he knew what it was like to be treated differently because you couldn’t bend. The swords clashing cut off that train of thought. She parried the hit and jumped back only to bring the sword right back down on his. He did a spin and avoided the attack and tried to slide his feet right under her’s to trip her up. Rue wasn’t going to let him do that, and with an expert jump she landed out of his range. With the pull of her arm she swung the swords right back at him. She was already sweating with exhilaration, but that didn’t stop her, she was used to her muscles blaring at her to stop. If anything that was a comfort, she let the rage she felt all day come off of her in waves, in the swings and jumps. Enjoying the way her legs hit the ground and sent shock waves throughout her whole body. The ring that was sent through her arms every time the swords meet.

It was a beautiful dance of strength and will power. That was good enough for her. They fought until the sun was finishing it’s rounds for the day and Katara’s voice yelled at them to hit the baths cause they smelled worse than Appa’s vomit, Sokka claimed that wasn’t even possible.   
\---------------------------------------------------------------

When Rue woke up the next morning at the time she typically does, she really did try to follow what her parents had asked of her. It shouldn’t have been that hard, but it was. She stayed inside for an hour longer than she normally does, before her want (need) for the sun to hit her face consumed her. With a tangled sigh she put on her shoes and ran. The air was crisp and wonderful on her face. 

She should have listened to her parents that morning. 

She was going through her warm ups when she first spotted the man out of the corner. He was old and weak, his skin looked like it would blow to ashes with one touch. They made eye contact and he changed direction to talk to her. The closer he got the more her ‘Special Sokka Oh No Sense’ got. His teeth were a gross orange /yellow color which seemed to strengthen her resolve to get as far away from this man as humanly possible. Then he started to talk and she wished upon every star in the night sky to have her swords. 

“Hello, little misses. How do you feel about coming with me?” Never, she would never go anywhere with this pervy old man. She was on high alert so she did in fact see the crazy in his eye, when she felt a hand creep around her neck.This man was not going to be a problem, it was his friends that were. She spun around in a tight circle, cringing as she put her back to the crazy man, and swung her arm up to hit the other man behind her. His grip on her neck loosened for a second, just long enough for her to suck in a bigger breath. She could have taken them, both of them if it was a normal fight, but not everyone plays fair as she felt a syringe go into her neck. The next thing she knows is everything is pitch black.  
-————————————————————————————  
When consciousness found her, her head was thumping and her hands were tied in rope. It took her about 3 minutes to realize that this was not right, and once she did she was wide awake. Her mother had once told her that being the daughter (Now she knew she wasn’t) of the Avatar put her and her siblings in danger. That the possibility of being kidnapped for that reason was not too far out of sight, that they were never allowed to tell people who their parents were. Someone must have found out. Curses. Whoever did this to her, they had another thing coming. She’d rip their spin out of their body’s with her teeth. 

No, breath, stressing out is not the way to deal with this. Suddenly she remembered Uncle Sokka’s voice talking about war ships. How the walls were made of metal and the smell of salt laid heavy in them. Her eyes scanned the cube she was locked in. It was made of metal and the only thing in the room with her was the old Fire Nation flag. 

They had made a new one when Fire Lord Zuko came into power. He wanted a new flag to show a new beginning and that they had changed, they were similar enough that people still knew it was the Fire Nation, but different enough that it was noticeable. Anytime the old one was up it meant they disagreed with the new Fire Lord. Oh spirits. She was on a rebel Fire Nation ship. They most likely wanted to know where the Avatar was, even if she didn’t like the guy she would not say a word. As that though crossed her mind the heavy metal door opened up, a man covered in armor and groomed to perfection strutted in. When his eyes registered that she was awake his mouth curled into a sick smile, just looking at it gave her chills. 

“Well, well, well, would you look at that, the little princess finally awoke from her little nap.” The tone of voice this man used was mockly sweet. She grinded her teeth harder to keep her mouth shut. He walked right up into her space, his breath smelling of dead frogs. “We are going to have so much fun with you, now aren't we?” Rue moved her eyes to the ground so she would not spit on his face, she had a feeling that would only make him madder. “Oh, not talking are we. We can’t have that.” She didn’t see the hand coming but she certainly felt it. Her neck snapped to one side from the impact of the blow. She almost laughed.

“You're going to have to try a lot harder than that to get me to talk, dirt bag.” Pain was something she was used to, and that slap might as well have been a play thing. If anything the man in front of her found that comment amusing. 

“Oh Princess, you're going to wish you never said that soon enough. We were never told we couldn’t hurt you, we just have to keep you alive till the deal is made. How much do you think that disgrace of a Fire Lord will pay to have his daughter returned to safety? How much more money will he pay when he sees you are all bruised up? We have to wait and see.” With that being said he turned around and left. What a pig. 

It took a second for the words to be comprehended, then several things occurred to her at once. 1) These people were looking for her specifically. 2) They thought the Fire Lord was her dad. (Maybe he was, not that that was a big deal.) 3) They were working on orders from higher ups. The words from the lesson she had at Ms. Blaze came back to her. Not everyone benefited from the war ending, most did, but people in higher standings did not. These people were going to try to use her to gain money, or maybe even power. Ultra Curses. She needed to get out and fast. Panic seized her chest, spirits, this was not what she had planned for the day. Her head filled with a thick fog that made it hard to think in, it was a mix of anger, worry, and rage. At least she knew how to deal with that, in through the nose out through the mouth, wait till her heart is calm and listen to the ocean, the popping of the sun. She couldn’t afford freaking out right now. Her parents would notice she was missing and come and find her. It would all be okay, she just had to stay cool and collected. 

She didn’t know how long she was left to sit and wallow in her thoughts for, but the sun had made a round through the sky and her body was aching to eat when the door opened again. In stepped the pig from before, this time he was carrying a bowl of food with him. It made him look slightly less grotesque, she didn’t want his paws on her food though. He sat right in front of her, when she remembered that her hands were tied behind her back and there was no way for her to eat it without him spoon feeding her. He must have known this as well, judging by the deranged look on his face. 

“Here is the deal, you tell me what I want to hear and you eat, got it?” Rue's stomach deceived her and growled like a monster, her face grew red with embarrassment and anger. The Dirt Bag just smiled because he knew he won. “Who is your mother?” This caught her attention, they didn’t know anything about her, other than the fact that she was the daughter of the Fire Lord (most likely not true, not that she would tell them that. No one else deserved to be thrown under the bus like that). She had the upper hand in this scenario, so she lied through her teeth.

“Jin, she’s an earth bender.” She knew enough about the Fire Lord to know he was a refugee in the Earth Kingdom for a while and that the lie would make sense. She just hoped she picked a generic enough name. The Pig grumbled a bit before lifting the spoon to her mouth. He believed her. The questions carried on for some time, some of her answers were lies, others were just lies of omission. Then when the whole bowl was gone the man stood up and punched her in the face. Again, and again, and once more for good measure. So much for her flawless skin, Rue thought bitterly. When the man left the room he left the door cracked just slightly opened. She could hear more than just his voice now, from the sound of it there were at least 2 other people on the ship. Then she heard something that made her blood run cold. 

“How is the plan to kill the Fire Lord coming along?” The Pig’s voice seemed to bounce around her cold metal room. 

“It is coming along fine, we almost have enough people in his council convinced that Wilston is on their side. He had the lay out of the castle sent on that messenger hawk that arrived the other day. Now he just needs to find out the time tables and everything will go smoothly.” This time it was a deep female voice.

“The bombs are planned to go off in 7 days time at the industrial factory.” The last male, his voice was higher pitched than The Pig’s but just as deranged. Then it hit Rue. These sick, sick people were going to kill others, and she was the only one who knew about it. She couldn’t spend time waiting to be saved, all her life she was told she should, but for the first time her waiting was going to take lives. She wouldn’t let that happen. Her mother was Katara, the master water bending, her Uncle was a master strategist, her step siblings were masters of their elements at young ages. She was not going to fail. Not this time. She needed a plan, she knew that this ship had to have an armory because all old Fire Nation ships did. She also knew that these people were not the smartest because 1) they had tied her in ropes and not chains, and 2) The Pig was too easy on her in the interrogation for him to have done this everyday. The only thing she really needed to worry about was that drug that knocked her out the first time. This meant a game of keep away had to be played and it just so happened her and her siblings loved to play that game. 

The first thing she did was wait, which kind of contracted the point she made before but she knew that she had a better chance of getting out at night. Not only were firebenders weaker with the sun gone, but she was hoping that at least some of them were asleep giving her a head start. While she waited for the sun to set she tried to undo the rope bindings. Whoever tied them must have been in the war because the knot was strong. With a deep breath in she started to bend. Agony shot through every molecule, the tiniest of whimpers left her mouth. She knew that heat was part of her bending, she knew that that wasn’t a water bender thing because she once had questioned Maggie about it. It hurt her head to think about so she stopped that line of thinking, but maybe her weird bending could get her out of this. 

...  
Who was she kidding no it couldn’t, her bending was about as useless as those ‘as seen on TV’ toys. With a huff, she understood what she had to do. She broke her thumb. A burning pain flared through her left hand, but she had to get moving, she couldn’t think about it right now. With the quick flip of her wrist her hands were free. She went to stand up before she stopped herself. The most likely scenario was that someone was sitting outside on the deck, not by the door or they would realize that it was cracked open. The fact that it had been left like that meant that whoever was on guard duty was not taking it all that seriously. That was a good thing for her. She could still feel the hunger pains and the pain from her bending, she just hoped she could push through it all. Another thing occurred to her, she had to find the plan room Oh spirits above she was going to lose her mind. Deep breaths, just go with the flow. If she was going to have to explore this ship she was going to rob them of their close and money. She needed a change of clothes because black would work so much better to sneak around in than her filmey workout attire and these scumbags did not really need the money.

She walked up to the door on the balls of her feet like Uncle Sokka had once told her was best for making the least amount of sound, and peaked around the corner. That’s when she saw him, The Pig was looking at the water with a dreamy look in his eye. It seemed that no one else was on the deck, and with just the right amount of force, Rue silently pushed the door the rest of the way open. On the outside the ship looked just like every other cargo ship, something that would allow it to be on sea, the perfect cover. 

As inaudibly as she could, she raced over to The Pig and threw all of her weight against him. He squealed louder than she thought he would, but he went overboard. Then faster than she thought, alarms rang out, alerting the other passengers that there was a problem. Her time just got cut in half. Then one of the doors on the upper deck swung open and out raced what she assumed was the other male she heard. He was bigger than The Pig in muscle mass and clearer in the eyes. He was going to put up a challenge. 

Rue was standing right next to the sail when the idea struck her. She saw that one of the masses was rolled up. Her eyes scanned the deck looking for the rope that ran from the mass to the ground. She was running towards the barrel the moment her eyes locked on it. She looked back at the man, and right as he was going to grab her, she pushed the barrel with all of her weight, then as quick as she could she grasped the rope as it pulled up, carrying her to the top of the mass. The man bellowed as loud and with as much fury as he could. He grabbed on to the fake tree and started to climb it. He must have not climbed a lot of trees when he was a kid because her grandfather could climb that faster than he could. 

Once she got as far as the rope would take her she launched herself onto the next little platform to see, about 7 feet away there was another rope. With a leap that had her asking Tai and La for help, she made the gap. Looking back behind her the mad man was making way too much headway for her. She shook her head and got back into the game. The spirits most have been on her side that day because she was standing right next to the perfect rope. Latching onto it the mass groaned as it started to roll up and the rope started to lower at alarming fast speeds, but Rue was the King of The Jungle for a reason, and swung with all she had. 

When it lowered her enough she let go and hit the ground in a roll. Her eyebrows went higher as the man behind her cursing got more and more creative. She didn’t know what half of those words meant but she could tell by the tone they were not nice. 

Finally she found a door that was wide open and ran through it. She should have known it was a trap when the third crew member threw a punch right in her gut. The wind was knocked out of her, but she didn’t let that stop her, the woman went to punch her again when Rue ducked and mangaged to move past her. She flipped around so her back faced the rest of the hallway and kicked the lady in the pelvis with all her might, she watched as the syringe fell out of the woman's pocket. The woman wasn’t done as she got right back up and pulled out a knife from her sleeve. The likelihood of it being coated in something was immense and Rue knew she had to think of something and fast. 

“What are you doing on this ship? Entertaining the man?” The woman rushed her before she could say another thing. Her arms went up to defend her face when she realized what she needed to do. These people were not allowed to kill her, she could push that to the limits. She let the woman get as close as she dared before she grabbed the woman’s wrist and lowered it to her heart. 

The woman’s eyes went wide and she loosened her grip just the tiniest amount. That was all Rue needed. With a twist of her arm Rue knocked the knife right out of her hands. The woman wouldn’t let up though and tried to catch Rue with a punch, but Rue grew up with 2 younger sisters, she knew how to win a fist fight. She ducked under the woman’s punch and threw her own punch right under her mandible knocking her out. 

She went to take a deep breath when she remembered about the other man. She snapped her head back up to see him almost at the door, and Rue with the speed she did not know she possessed, thrusted the door shut, then threw her weight against it. The door jolted and shocked as the man tried to get in, but Rue saw the lock on the inside and sent a quick prayer to Tai and La that it would hold. 

She walked slowly away from the door as if it would magically open up when she tripped over the stunned woman. She didn’t know when she would wake up, but when she did it most likely would be bad. She just then recalled the fallen syringe when the door was busted open. That lock fucking sucked. At least now she had a way to knock this guy out. She leaped away from the man with the fire in his eyes and grabbed the syringe. 

Just as the item was secured in her hands she felt two meaty palms slap down on her shoulders. With a thrust of her arms she injected the unknown substance into his side. She felt the grip on her shoulders slacken and watched as his eyes clouded over, she knew that he would be out for a while, but the woman was still an unknown. With lightning quick glances around she found a flag, she waltzed over to it, unhooked it from the wall and wrapped the woman in a tight burrito hoping that it would keep her there long enough for Rue to get off this ship and find all the things she needed. When she was wrapping her up, she held the jingling of keys. Jackpot, she would be taking those. Unclipping those with a smile she dashed down the halls.

Unfortunately, she had no clue where to go from where she was, so that meant she had to check each individual room, and had to try each key individually. She screamed in frustration more than once. Finally after what felt like eons she found a room with a single desk and lots of papers in it. It was a huge sigh of relief before she realized she had to look at each of those papers to see if the plan was on them. When she walked up closer to read the papers she almost laughed in disbelief. These people were dumber than she took them for. She was looking at a folder that literally said the words, “Plans to Kill the Fire Lord.” As much as she wanted to just take the papers and run she also thought that this was way too easy. No way would criminals just leave their plans out like this, not unless something disrupted them before they got them put aw- It hit Rue like a baseball bat to the forehead. She was just as stupid as the people who kidnapped her. Nipping the paperwork she tucked it into the belt of her pants, as she looked for something that screamed “Bombing Plans!” Creaking the desk open she found a necklace and the plans. 

Just as she was about to take the paper a feeling in her gut told her to nab the necklace too. That it would come into play later, or was a good piece of the story to remember for later. Uncle Sokka was going to have to dig deep to get a story that topped this. 

The next room she entered seemed to be a bedroom or a sleeping quarters of some sort which meant clothing or hand money. She wandered over to the closet and popped it open to be greeted by some of the nastiest looking clothing she had ever seen. With a shake of her head she closed that and walked over to the bedside table. Inside that she had more luck, dollar bills were sitting in a nice stack ready to be taken. 

She moved on to the next room and the next, stuffing her pockets with things that might come in handy later. Finally she found dark clothing that looked like it would fit her. She changed faster than she had ever swung from a vine and made her way out of the labyrinth. She knew about the general layout of ships, so she had some kind of an idea on where to look for the lifeboats. She walked past the man and the woman to see that they were still unconscious (Maybe it hadn’t been as long as she thought it had been?) and found what she was looking for. Life jackets, buoys, lifeboats, all there in that little chest. She grabbed the things she thought she needed, a little food, water, her old clothes, the papers wrapped in tin foil.

When she remembered what she was missing. Swords. She sprinted right back into the belly of the ship to find the armory. There she found an array of swords and no matter how much she wanted to sit there and analyze the swords to pick the best one, she didn’t have the time. The night was turning to day and she did not have time to waste. 6 days till the bombs went off in the factories, she just hoped she would make it there in time. Pulling the sword that called to her she grabbed a sword sash and ran. 

The boat made a terrible sound when it landed the water. Rue grabbed the oars and started rowing the boat in the direction of the nearest island, or which way she thought the nearest island was. She had never wished for Appa as much as she did in this moment. 

An hour or two had passed and she was still adrift at sea, she had been reading the papers that she had stolen in hopes to take her mind off the burning in her arms, her thrumping thumb, and the nice bruise that was forming on her face. But she was used to physical pain, so none of those things were all that bad. It was the homesickness that was eating her up inside. She missed sword fighting with Uncle Sokka and dancing with her mom in the moonlight, she missed swinging in the trees to have a history lesson from Ms. Blaze. She would even settle for Aang’s quiet disappointment. Anything was better than this gaping loneliness.

Rue snapped herself out of her depressing thoughts and read through the papers again, trying to recall the geography lesson that Sokka had made her sit through. All that line of thought evoked was how she was thinking about how stupid the guy was teaching her looked. She cursed her past self who had the attention span smaller than a pea. There was no reason to cry, she was safe now, and she had food and water, she knew were she needed to go (Just not which way) and there was no reason to cry, Rue repeated that to herself over and over again in hopes that that would convince her eyes not to well up with tears. They did not seem to want to listen to her that day. She looked up to try and stop the tears from falling when she spotted it. An island. Nothing in her life had looked so much like an angel than that island. Her rowing became more frantic as she now had a goal in sight, her mind was clear of everything else. She felt like if she reached that island everything would work itself out. It didn’t matter how, it didn’t matter where, or who, just when. 

As she heaved the boat onto the shore, she almost cried in relief. She finally had land under her feet again, it felt like years had gone by since that happened (In reality it had been about 2 days). She stood still for a second taking a moment to catch her breath before she started to walk. She had no clue where she was, or what nation, kingdom, tribe, or temple she was at and she did not care in the least. Then her nose caught a whiff of something, something cooking and suddenly she was reminded of how long ago she had eaten and started towards the smell. The closer she got, she realized that the smell wasn’t just from one thing, it was a village. A smile graced her face as she approved it, a village meant food, it meant an inn. 

The village looked like it was of higher class, maybe village wasn’t the right word to say. It was more of a town. The streets had shops of all different kinds lining them, and roads that were smooth and placed on a grid. She saw people who did not look like they wanted to chop her head off and heard children laughing. One shop caught her eye, It said in big bold letters, “Get Colored Contacts Here!” Rue had no clue what “Contacts” were but the sign next to the words showed someone's eye color changing. If she was going to go to the Fire Nation her best bet was getting something to make her eyes fit in. 

“Hello, welcome to Smart Eyes, how can I help you?” A lady in heavy makeup sat behind a desk. Her tone of voice said that she was required to say that line, and had over and over again. 

“Um...Yeah can I have some...yellow Con...tact...s.” The lady did not seem impressed with Rue, then she said one more thing to try and appease her, “Please?” With that the woman grabbed Rue's chin and tilted it up and down, her eyes scanning every line of her face before she nodded her head, and went to the back room. When she came back she was holding a small package.

“Got money kid, ‘cause I got your goods right here.” Her eyes were bored and tired, like she hadn’t slept in a week. Rue totally knew the feeling. Not knowing what to say Rue dug into her pocket to pull out the stolen bills to pay for the contacts. The woman behind the desk rolled her eyes and said in an automatic voice, “have a great rest of your day, we hope you visit soon.” That sounded the furthest thing away from the truth, but Rue smiled either way and pocketed the package. 

Having left that weird store, Rue went on the lookout for a place to sleep, a place to buy some cheap food, or a place to buy a bag of some sort, her pockets were overflowing. Maybe if she was in the right state of mind she would have seen the two men that were watching her with keen eyes, or thought about how she looked different from everyone else here, but she didn’t, not until she was being pushed into a run down alley way. God Dammit why could she never seem to catch a break? Her arms were literally jelly at her sides, she did not want to deal with these clowns. Right before she was going to unleash the rage that was growing inside her two voices beat her to it. 

“Hey, guys, I know no one talks to you and all that, but that does not give you the excuse to beat up on a girl.” He turned his head towards Rue and with a wink said, “Hey doll, don’t worry we got your back.” Rue vomited in her mouth a bit.

“Ty, less flirting and more butt kicking.” A sharp female voice said right as their fist landed in one of the gross man’s faces. A girl after Rue’s own heart. Right then a rock bitch slapped the other man. “About time.” Huffed the girl.

“You okay little lady?” ‘Ty’ questioned. Rue, could really care less and in the dries tone she could muster up she said,

“Not until you got out of my face, I won’t be.” Ty did not seem to be discouraged by her words, if anything he looked like he was ready for the challenge. But before he could get words to leave his lips the girl -who is a life saver and Rue’s new goddess- grabbed him by the ear and yanked him back out of Rue’s face. 

“Sorry about him, he can be a lot sometimes. Hello, my name is Cia and this is my cousin Ty. It is nice to make your acquaintance.” A smile was placed on her face, Rue wanted a printed picture of it to hang in all the walls of her home. Before she could tell her that she was fine thanks, Cia gasped. “Oh Agni, your face, are you okay? Do those idiots do that?” 

That made Rue laugh out loud. “I’m kind of offended that you think I would let them touch me. No, I just got punched in the face like 2 days ago, no biggy.” That statement did not seem to comfort Ty or Cia as both of them looked concerned. 

“How about this, you can come back to my place and my parents will cook you up a warm meal and fix you up?” Cia worry was bouncing off the walls. It was so strong. Rue looked at Ty to see if he was okay with that idea, when he smiled like a thousand suns at her, clapped and grabbed her arm. 

“Let’s Go!” He shouted like he wanted everyone and their mother’s to know and then started to run, Rue right on his heels. 

“Ty! Be careful you have a literal heart condition, slow down!” Ty just turned around and stuck his tongue out at her. 

Rue couldn't help herself from saying, “What are you, 10?” and like a game of tennis he shot right back at her,

“Out of 10!” with the biggest, dopest smile on. Oh this was going to be fun. They ran like the whole world was trying to catch them and they did not care in the least. Laughing and bickering like they had known each other for years and not minutes. Then they finally reached Cia’s house. She just burst into the room like it was no big deal to be inviting a stranger in with no warning. 

That was when a little plump man walked into view, he held a similar face shape to that of Cia’s but that was about it. “Honey your home, and you bought my favorite nephew along with Ms?” he trailed off, everyone just stood in silence when Ty cleared his throat and bumped into Rue’s shoulder. 

“Rue, sorry, the place I’m from doesn’t...doesn’t do last names.” Her mouth felt dry, Yui why did she suck at social interaction? Cia’s father’s face lightened up a bit, as if realizing that the person his daughter brought home was socially inept and that was a good thing. If anything it made her less threatening. Ty looked delighted at this discovery, only her savoir seemed to understand her pain, she knew there was a reason she liked her best. 

“That’s fine, Rue, but are you...are you okay you have a bit of a shiner and well, Cia’s doesn’t normally bring strays home.” 

Thankfully Cia answered for Rue (She was going to make Cia a pedestal and worship her everyday). “Well, we were out on the street, doing some window shopping when we saw these two ugly guys shove this girl into an alleyway,” At this point Cia’s father closed his eyes like he heard a story just like this a bajillion times. “We went in to save her when we realized she most likely didn’t even need our help! I offered her a place to stay and an icepack if that is fine with you, papa.” For a second there Rue was almost sure that the man was going to kick her out of the house, but then Cia said papa and he crumbled like a 3 day old cookie. Ty covered a laugh with a cough, he must have caught the change in his face as well. 

“Fine, she can stay. Rue, stay here for a second while Ty and Cia make you a room.” Ty and Cia look at him then to her before nodding to each other. Rue had siblings and knew that look meant they were going to eavesdrop on the conversation that was going to be had. 

The cute little old man then pivoted to face her. “I want to believe that you are a good person.” Is how he started the conversation. Rue wanted to believe she was a good person as well. “But if you step one foot out of line and hurt my little girl I will not hesitate to kick you out faster than you can comprehend.” Even though Rue knew it was in her best interest to just agree with him and get to sleep, she could not be sure she could keep that promise.

So she told him, “I will try my best not to step out of line, but...I can not promise that.” His face got so red so fast. That did not come out the way she wanted, so she carried on faster hoping to make him understand. “I do not know what you think is right and wrong, I do not know what you think stepping out of line is. Is snoring stepping out of line? ‘Cause I don’t think I snore but maybe I do. I mean, I guess I could record myself sleeping and play it back and hear if I do, but that would take some trial and error, and at least a night so I would have already been out of line before I even knew what I was doing and…” She was cut off by the sound of laughter from the man in front of her. She didn’t know what was so funny. 

“Snoring is fine my dear, I accept your terms of trying. If you do not know, ask before you do something that might not be right.” With a clap of his hands he turned around and walked out of the room. What a weird little man.

Rue’s thoughts were cut off (that seems to happen a lot. It was kind of annoying) by Ty entering the room. “So I brought you this ice pack, to fix...you know.” He gestured to his face, as if saying her busied face was punishable by death. Something Cia said popped into her brain.

“You have a heart condition?” It wasn’t really asking as much as it was telling. 

Ty sighed then said, “yeah.” Then his eyes went wide like that wasn’t what he wanted to say, then continued in a much more flirtatious tone, “My heart is just looking for the right person to heal it, that is why it brought me to you!” He got a proud look on his face like he just thought of the wittiest thing to say. Rue just blinked a couple of times in his direction before rolling her eyes and taking the ice pack out of his hands. 

She looked at him and asked for him to show her to her room. He smiled again and Rue almost stopped in her tracks before she remembered what he said like 0.5 seconds ago, no matter how cute his smile was it could not make up for the radioactive garbage that spilled out of his mouth. Then he showed her the room, and she almost kissed him because he brought her to a fully functioning bed. Rue waved him away and went to bed for the first time in almost 2 days.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if you hated this, I tried my best. Please do leave your suggestions down in the comments and stuff. Have a lovely day!


End file.
